


The Slow Path

by danrdarrenc



Category: Days of Our Lives
Genre: M/M, mentions of paul narita, mentions of will's infidelity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-18
Updated: 2015-01-18
Packaged: 2018-03-08 00:40:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3189329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danrdarrenc/pseuds/danrdarrenc
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will and Sonny break apart and find their way back to each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Slow Path

Sonny moves out an hour after it finally comes out that Will slept with Paul at New Year’s. He just silently packs his things, kisses Arianna on the top of her head, and walks past Will without even looking at him. Will watches him go, the gravity of what’s he done and just lost heavy on his shoulders.

______________

For a week, Will and Sonny each sleepwalk around town, both of their hearts broken, their shared world shattered seemingly beyond repair. Will holes himself up in the apartment, does nothing but take care of Ari, sleep, eat, and write; he avoids Paul Narita at all costs. Sonny buries himself in work, practically living at TBD, and returns zombie-like to the Kiriakis mansion only to sleep; he ignores his mother’s stares and any attempts she makes to tell him she was right about Will.  
_______________

The second week after Sonny moves out, Will is obligated to go to Chicago for a night for a Tru Vista conference. He types a text message to Sonny asking him if he’ll watch Ari for the night and deletes it three times before he finally sends it. Shockingly, Sonny promptly responds but asks that Will drop Ari off to Tad at TBD. It stings Will that Sonny won’t see him - even for their daughter - even though he knows he brought this upon himself. The next day, Will picks up Ari from Tad at TBD and Sonny is conspicuously absent from his club.

________________

They finally see each other face-to-face a month after the separation. It’s completely by accident and it doesn’t end well. Will is out running errands in Horton Town Square and Sonny is hurrying to a meeting with Rafe at the South Side Club when they literally bump into each near the couch in the plaza. It’s eerily reminiscent of the time they ran into each other there three years ago, when Will was outed in the papers and Sonny was (secretly) madly, blindingly in love with Will. They stare at each other for a minute and Will’s lips inadvertently turn up at the corners into a little smile but Sonny frowns at him and his heart sinks. 

"How’ve you been?" Will asks tentatively and he’s relieved to see that Sonny is still wearing his wedding band. 

"Just peachy," Sonny snaps and it feels like Will’s been slapped across the face. "Did you want something because I’m late for a meeting."

Taken aback by Sonny’s harshness, Will stutters, “I - uh - I thought maybe we could get coffee or something. Talk maybe? Start fixing things.”

As soon as he says it, he knows he shouldn’t have. Sonny’s mouth contorts into a nasty grimace and his eyes flash daggers. “Talk? About what? How you fucked my ex? You broke us, Will. You don’t get to decide if, how, or when we get fixed.”

"Well, maybe if you had told me your ex had been in town I would have figured out it was Paul!" Will retorts.

"It shouldn’t have mattered whether he was my ex or not, Will! You shouldn’t have fucked someone who wasn’t me!" Sonny’s voice reverberates around the square and passersby stop dead in their tracks to stare. 

Will’s face heats up in his anger and embarrassment. “Fine. Well, you know what, Sonny? I know I fucked up. I know I broke us. But I actually want to fix us. I want to figure out how we got here.”

"You cheated on me!" Sonny hisses. 

"Can you honestly say that things were fine between us before that though?" Will bites back, nearly poking Sonny in the chest. "You threw away all our savings on a club that had no prospects of working! You disapproved of my writing and you were pissed off I went to LA only you didn’t tell me! You _cannot_ pin what is wrong with us only on me!”

Sonny’s face goes white and Will’s hands shake at his sides. “I have to go,” Sonny says, deadly quiet, and then steps past Will without a second glance.

Will stands rooted to the spot for another minute and then heads back to the apartment.

_________________

The first thaw comes one night in the middle of March when Will calls Sonny in a panic. Sonny instinctively answers Will’s call to find Will screeching at him that Arianna has a fever and is throwing up and he doesn’t know what to do. Will begs him for help; Sonny is at the apartment in under ten minutes. 

Sonny drives a panicked Will and a sick Arianna to the hospital and requests Kayla Brady’s services while Will cradles his daughter. When Kayla arrives two minutes later, Sonny gently coaxes Will into handing Arianna over to his aunt and steers him to a chair in the waiting area. He pours them both a cup of coffee each and sits down next to Will. Will reaches out for his hand and he doesn’t pull away; Arianna is his daughter too and he’s just as scared as Will is.

It’s nearly a half an hour before Kayla finds them sitting in silence, their fingers intertwined, to tell them that it looks like Ari just has a stomach bug but they’re going to keep her overnight just to make sure. Will nearly collapses with relief and Sonny automatically wraps his arm around Will’s waist to keep him from falling.

When Kayla leaves them alone again, Will says, “Thanks for coming. I just panicked. I’m sorry. But you don’t have to stay. I’ll be fine now that I know she’s okay.”

"I’ll stay. She’s my daughter too," Sonny says and it feels like a tiny but momentous shift in the gears of their broken marriage. 

Will smiles imperceptibly and sits down. Sonny returns to the chair next to him and they fall into silence again. Will nods off about an hour later and when he shifts himself so his head ends up on Sonny’s shoulder, Sonny’s whole body relaxes and he falls into the deepest sleep he’s slept in nearly two months.

________________

Two days later, Will’s phone blows up with a call from Sonny. His heart jumps and his fingers shake as he accepts the call.

"Hello?"

"Hey," Sonny says. "I was just calling to see how Ari’s doing."

"She’s good. No sign of the bug."

"Good. That’s good."

They lapse into silence for a minute and then Will says carefully, “You could come over and see her, if you want.”

He holds his breath until Sonny answers, “Yeah. Okay. How does twenty minutes sound?”

"We’ll be here," Will says and he hopes his voice doesn’t sound too hopeful before the line disconnects.

Sonny knocks on the door exactly twenty minutes later and Will opens the door with what he hopes isn’t too much enthusiasm. Ari is playing in her playpen when Sonny arrives and he immediately picks her up and cradles her in his arms.

Will smiles fondly at the two of them, even as he wonders what this means.

It’s nearly Ari’s nap time so she gets cranky about fifteen minutes into Sonny’s visit and he takes it upon himself to put her to bed. When he comes out of her bedroom five minutes later, Will is watching him carefully from near the door.

After a beat, Will asks, “Have you had lunch? I can make us some grilled cheeses.”

"Yeah. Okay," Sonny responds and Will thinks his eyes sparkle with something that hasn’t been there in a long time.

Will hurries to whip up the grilled cheeses and they sit at the kitchen table together quietly eating until Will says, “I want to thank you again for the other night. I know that must have been hard for you.”

"Will, Ari is my daughter too. I wanted to be there."

Will drops Sonny’s gaze and fiddles with his napkin. “Thanks anyway. It meant a lot to me. Knowing that you’d still come when I called.”

He looks back up at Sonny who has a strange look on his face that Will can’t quite make out. “How’ve you been?” Will asks before the silence gets awkward.

"I’ve been working a lot. Trying to replace all the money I lost," Sonny says holding Will’s gaze, and Will realizes this is Sonny taking responsibility for his part in their problems. "I’m sorry, Will. I should have told you sooner what was going on. I just felt like," he pauses and Will waits. "I just felt like I had to show you that I could be as successful as you."

"As successful as me?" Will asks, truly surprised.

"You had gotten this big LA screenwriting gig and I was flatlining with my one club. It felt like you were getting so far ahead of me, career-wise. The South Side club was going to be my way of keeping up with _you_."

"Why didn’t you tell me that?" Will says and takes Sonny’s hand in his. Sonny doesn’t make any move to resist him so Will continues. "One of the main reasons I took the LA gig was because I felt like I needed to keep up with you.” Sonny’s mouth drops open a little bit. “You know that I’ve never felt good enough for you and TBD was doing so well that the LA thing felt like my one chance to really prove to myself that I deserved you. It was also a way to prove to myself that I could do it on my own. Be a successful writer. I’m so grateful that you got me the job at Tru Vista but I had earned the screenwriting job and I needed to see that I could do it on my own merit. I guess I just ended up proving that I couldn’t.” 

"That’s not true. You’ve gained such credibility with the articles you’ve written for Sonixx and Tru Vista," Sonny says immediately and squeezes Will’s hand in affirmation. "I mean Paul requested you, didn’t he?" 

Will breathes in sharply and Sonny blinks rapidly once he realizes what he’s just said. It’s the first time since the truth came out that they’ve mentioned Paul’s name between them with regards to Will’s article on him.

The spell breaks and the air is rife with tension again. Sonny pulls his hand out from under Will’s and rubs his neck nervously. “I, um, I should go. I left Ben alone and Chad was supposed to be coming over. I don’t want another brawl.”

Sonny stands and slips into his jacket. “Tell Ari goodnight for me?” Will nods as he follows Sonny to the door. Before he leaves, Sonny turns back to Will and says, “If you - uh - if you’re ever feeling like a cup of coffee, come over to TBD sometime. That Free Coffee for Life Card is still valid.”

The ends of Sonny’s lips twitch up into a smile and then he’s gone. Will leans his forehead against the closed door and nearly cries tears of joy and relief.

_____________

Will has lunch and his midday coffee at TBD every day for the next two weeks. He brings his laptop and writes and writes and writes at a booth in the back of the club. Sometimes Sonny joins him for lunch and they just talk, spend their time getting reacquainted with each other. 

Will tells Sonny stories about the Bradys and Hortons and how Sami and the kids are doing in LA. Sonny tells Will about the crazy things happening at the Kiriakis mansion. Will shows Sonny pictures and videos of Arianna on the days when Sonny doesn’t come over for a visit with her and some nights Sonny agrees to have dinner with Will at the apartment. 

It’s easy and relaxed and low-pressure and it feels like it did way back when Sonny first came to town when they were truly just friends. Sometimes, though, their fingers brush and Will thinks he sees light in Sonny’s eyes again but then it’s gone in a flash and he worries that he just imagined it in his blind hope to have Sonny back in his life, his home, his bed. 

As March comes to an end and April rolls around, neither Will nor Sonny broaches the subject of their anniversary. Will is sure that Sonny is just as aware of the date as he is but he doesn’t dare bring it up; he has no desire to break the fragile friendship they’ve started up again.

Will is at TBD late the night before their anniversary, Ari away visiting Lucas at his apartment, watching Sonny close up. Will follows Sonny out of the doors, waits for him to lock up, and is about to bid Sonny farewell when Sonny stops him.

"Will, wait a minute." Will stops and stares expectantly at Sonny. Sonny looks at him nervously and then says, "Do you, um, do you maybe want to have dinner with me tomorrow night?"

Will’s heart pounds hard against his chest and he throws caution to the wind when he asks, “Like a date?” 

Sonny nods and bites his bottom lip to keep from smiling. 

"I’d love to go on a date with you, Sonny," Will answers with a grin. 

Sonny breathes a sigh of relief. “Okay. I’ll pick you up at the apartment at around 8?” 

Will nods, too excited to speak, and flees to his car before Sonny can see him explode with joy.

______________

Will’s stomach flutters with nerves as he dresses for his date. He briefly considers wearing the black blazer his mom had bought him three and a half years ago for their first date but chooses instead the tan blazer he’d worn to the Horton Christmas two years ago. He pairs it with dark brown slacks and a simple white dress shirt and decides on no tie. 

Lucas has graciously agreed to watch Ari for another night and so Will is waiting anxiously by the door at fifteen minutes to eight. He nearly jumps out of his skin when Sonny knocks at five of; when he swings open the door he stops breathing. 

Sonny is there looking radiant in a light gray blazer similar to his own, black slacks, and a dark gray button-down shirt. Sonny’s eyes shine brightly and he breathes a little raggedly as his eyes rake up and down Will’s body. 

"Hi," Will breathes.

"Hi," Sonny answers with a megawatt grin.

Will snaps the apartment light off, grabs his keys off the desk by the door, and closes the door behind him.

"It’s a nice night out. I thought we’d walk," Sonny says as they make their way out of the apartment complex.

"Okay," Will says and he feels as nervous and bashful as he did at the coffee shop on their first date so long ago. "Are you going to tell me where we’re going?"

Sonny shakes his head, smiles mischievously, and says after a beat, “You look really nice.”

Will’s heart skips a beat. “Thanks. So do you.”

They make their way towards Horton Town Square and walk in comfortable silence through the plaza amidst straggling evening residents, some out for dinner or dessert, others hurrying towards the new club. Ten minutes past the Square, Sonny veers them South towards the river.

"We’re going to the Penthouse Grille, aren’t we?" Will asks suddenly, getting his bearings.

"How’d you know that? You’re terrible with directions," Sonny laughs. 

"That’s true. But I know there aren’t that many restaurants this way and I assumed that we’re not going to Victor’s club," Will answers with a smirk.

"Okay. Fair enough." 

Will bites his lip and follows Sonny towards the doors of the Grille, which have come into sight. 

Five minutes later, they’re in the building, up the elevator, and seated at a table near the window overlooking Salem. 

After they order their food, Will says, “You know, when I was little I always wanted to get all dressed up and come here like my parents used to.”

"I know," Sonny whispers, staring at Will, but Will doesn’t hear him. 

"Did you know my parents got engaged here?" Will asks, taking a sip of water. 

"Which time?" 

Will laughs at the question. “The first time. I was in summer camp when it happened. Apparently there was some bad singing involved on my dad’s part and everyone thought mom was going to turn him down.”

"Wouldn’t be the first time someone in your family’s done that," Sonny says without missing a beat. 

Will’s mouth drops open in surprise and he flushes a little but he can tell by the teasing tone of Sonny’s voice that the comment isn’t meant to be malicious. 

"Was that the wedding that didn’t happen?" Sonny asks curiously as their food is placed in front of them.

"The first wedding that didn’t happen. Actually, they didn’t even get to the altar that time. Dad thought Mom had cheated on him with Brandon."

The words are out of his mouth and he’s taken a bite of his cheeseburger before he realizes what he’s said. He pauses halfway through a chew and watches Sonny carefully to gauge his reaction. 

"How many weddings did your mom have?" Sonny queries, unfazed by Will’s statement, and stuffs a forkful of pasta into his mouth.

The tension leaves Will’s body as he squints his eyes in thought. “Um, seven maybe? Eight? I lost track somewhere around her second wedding to Dad.”

Sonny chuckles around another mouthful of Fettuccine Alfredo and smiles softly when he catches Will watching him. 

Just as they finish eating, the music over the speakers gets infinitesimally louder and notes to a familiar song begin to play. 

Will stares open-mouthed at Sonny. “Did you plan this? Or should I marvel at the coincidence of our wedding song playing?” He should have realized something suspicious was going on when he noticed they were the only two in the restaurant.

Sonny responds by pushing back his chair and holding his hand out to Will. “Dance with me?”

Will takes Sonny’s hand and lets Sonny lead him onto the dance floor. When they come to a stop in the middle, Will makes no move to touch Sonny until Sonny slides his arms around Will’s waist, his hands resting on the small of Will’s back. Will takes it as a sign and wraps his arms around Sonny’s neck. It feels so familiar, so much like home, swaying on the dance floor like this with Sonny to their wedding song. 

They dance in silence for a bit until Sonny says, “I never stopped loving you, you know. I just needed some time to be able to still say it to you.” 

Will bends back slightly to look at Sonny. “I know. And I want you to know that I never, ever stopped loving you. I love you more than anything. I’m so sorry that I hurt you so deeply.” 

Sonny swallows thickly and searches Will’s eyes before leaning forward and pressing their lips together in a soft kiss. Will closes his eyes, savors the feel of Sonny’s lips against his again after two months, and kisses back only when he feels Sonny press harder and open his mouth slightly. He tightens his grip around Sonny’s neck as Sonny pulls him flush against his chest and tilts his head just enough so that he can slot their lips together more firmly. Sonny responds by sliding his tongue into Will’s mouth and Will moans as he twirls his tongue around Sonny’s. 

When they break apart for air, Will blinks, dazed, at Sonny whose eyes are a darker shade of brown than normal and whose lips are swollen and red from the kissing. 

"Happy anniversary, Will," Sonny says when he catches his breath. 

Will slides his cheek against Sonny’s as they return to swaying to the music - no longer their song - and whispers, “Happy anniversary,” into Sonny’s ear. 

Later, when they stand in front of the apartment door, kissing lazily with their fingers intertwined at their sides, the spell of the Penthouse Grille broken, but the magic of this second first date still swirling around them, Will asks tentatively, “Come inside?”

The enchantment breaks and Sonny’s smile fades. When Will searches his eyes, he finds the same indecision that was there that day at the coffee shop after Gabi’s first sonogram when Will begged to go back to Sonny’s place and fix things between them. 

Sonny releases Will’s hands and takes a step back. “I can’t. Not yet, Will. I’m sorry. You asked me once a long time ago to take things slow. This is me asking you for the same thing now.”

"Okay. Baby steps. I get it. That was too fast," Will says but his heart clenches painfully. 

Sonny closes the distance between them and seems to know that he’s hurt Will’s feelings. He cups the side of Will’s face in the palm of his hand and slips his other hand into one of Will’s. 

"I love you and I am so, so glad we celebrated our anniversary tonight the way that we did. I want to keep doing this. Hanging out. Going on dates. I’m just not ready for sex yet."

"Okay," Will says again. "I think I can deal with that." He smiles and squeezes Sonny’s hand. 

"I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Maybe come to the club for lunch?"

Will nods. 

"I love you," Sonny says, gives him a quick kiss on the lips, and then vanishes down the walkway away from the apartment complex.

__________________

A couple weeks later, they sit curled up together on the couch, Sonny’s arm around Will’s shoulders, Will leaning into his side, their legs intertwined in front of them as they watch TV. The baby monitor sits quietly on the desk, Arianna asleep in the next room. 

The silence is comfortable and comforting, a reflection of what their life used to be before things got crazy, before Will went to LA, before Will cheated. The TV plays softly, the only noise in the apartment, when suddenly, Sonny asks, “Why did you do it?” 

His voice is barely more than a whisper but Will’s whole body tenses and he shifts so he can look at Sonny. Sonny’s eyes are wide in earnest; he doesn’t seem hurt or upset, just curious. 

As he forms words in his mind about how to explain what happened with Paul, Will realizes that this is what has been holding Sonny back from sex: the unbearable nagging wonder about how and why Will could so easily throw away what they have. 

He takes a deep breath and begins. “First, you have to understand that I had no idea who Paul was other than a famous baseball player who wanted me to write an article on him. Not that him being a stranger to you would have made this any better but I just want you to remember that.

"Second, I need you to know that it was my editor’s idea that I not tell him I was married. He thought it might close off Paul to talking with me.

"Third, I didn’t go to his hotel room with the intention of sleeping with him. I had already been there a few times just interviewing him, trying to get him to talk to me about his life. I had showed the article to Grandma Kate and she told me that there was some bigger story under the surface that I needed to get out of him. And then you told me about the money problem so I felt like I need to really push him to open up to me, so I could write the best story possible that would sell the most issues. He’d already flirted with me a few times; I went there to ask him if he was gay. 

"All I wanted was a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’. His answer was to kiss me. No, please, you asked me, so I’m telling you. Please just let me finish," Will says when Sonny opens his mouth to speak. 

"I was startled. You and I had been off for a while and here was this famous baseball player showing me affection and it was all new and exciting. I got so caught up in my need to get this story out of him that I just kind of lost myself and all rational thought in that moment. I wasn’t thinking about you, or me, or us and that was very wrong of me. It was almost like someone else took control of my body. Someone so ambitious that he threw away the best thing that has ever happened to him. I’m not proud of myself for that, Sonny. I hope you know that."

He pauses for breath and takes Sonny’s hand in his. “I don’t ever want you to think that it was because you stopped being attractive to me or that he was more attractive. Because, god, Sonny, I love you so much, and you are so, so attractive to me. Your smile makes my heart flutter. Our fingers brush and my stomach turns into a roller coaster. I think about kissing you and I lose an hour’s worth of work. My body aches for you, Sonny, for the feel of your skin against mine, under me, over me, your lips and your hands everywhere and nowhere. I want you so bad. All day. Every day.”

And just like that the last hurdle is broken: Sonny is on him, pushing him down and back into the couch, their mouths kissing furiously as they rip off clothes and discard them haphazardly on the floor.

After, when they’ve managed to make it to the bedroom for round two, and they lay spent and nearly delirious with joy, Will’s head pillowed on Sonny’s chest, Sonny’s fingers trailing circles up and down Will’s arm, Will says simply, “I love you.” 

An hour later, Sonny moves back into the apartment, his things back in the places where they belong.


End file.
